LegionSteve
Motörhead
Buttercup, now THAT'S what I call a rant
Well... what can I say...
Civilisation was released in 1991.
Good heavens, practically anything filling a computer screen was cool back then. Civilisation was both cool and original.
What was the primary gripe of an otherwise unfaltable game? The crappy AI, of course.
What does AI mean in terms of Civ games?
1) Where the AI civ chooses to build its cities.
2) How the AI civ operates its units in battle and peace time.
3) Why the AI civ declares war and it's general attitude to the player's civ.
4) What items and at what cost the AI civ is prepared to trade anything.
5) Who the AI civ chooses to ally with in any given situation.
6) When to retreat from battle and the extent of the severity of the peace settlement.
I have not played all the games in the Civilisation series. I have only played Civ2, Civ3, Freeciv and Alpha Centuri. However, all these issues regarding the CRAPPY artificial intelligence aspect of the game appear in every single release, even, sadly, the Civ5 it appears.
Of course this thread has 90 pages of frustration and despair, its so (insert swear word) obvious what is wrong with the Civ series that I can't honestly understand why anyone would even think of picking up any new Civ game until the problems from the first game, 20 YEARS AGO, have been fully or near fully resolved.
20 YEARS OF HAVING THE SAME COMPLAINTS LEVELLED AT THE CIV SERIES.
20 YEARS.
And what do we have?
Yet another civ game which is exactly the same as the first game except for some arbitrary cosmetic changes designed not as an improvement but simply designed as means to make the game 'different enough' to be worthy of new cellophane wrapping and a $30 player investment.
"Bored of the game? Hey, try this 'new' version which has a Platinum tile instead of a Gold tile"
"Have you solved the AI problem yet, you've had, like 20 YEARS to get to grips with it now?"
"Erm... um... Look, nice shiny Platinum!"
I mean, seriously... how can it be put into words that all humans can understand, regardless of an IQ of less than 50 and regardless of a level of greed which would put the original Genghis Kahn to shame?
IT'S THE CRAPPY AI
So here I am, a potential customer for Civ5 and what do I see? Zero improvements over Civ2. Why in god's name would I buy something I already have? All I've been thinking for the past 10 years is "Wonder when the new improved version will come out?" and, quite frankly it hasn't, and it never will! Why do I need to upgrade from Civ2? Oh right, because modern PCs can't read it, oh ok, I'll downgrade to Civ3 then. But, holy crap, I sure hope I don't have to keep downgrading every time Windows needs a cash boost!
I mean, christ, don't tell me, please don't tell me, Civ5 is still doing that thing where:
Your warrior spots a rival's civ's unit after climbing a mountain - immediately you have full contact with that Civ and 2 turns later you receive a demand from halfway across the globe for all your cash or it's war? OMFG, is it STILL doing that?
Or that thing where:
You completely screw over the Ai civ in a deal, utterly bankrupting them, then, 20 turns later when the deal is to be renewed, they say, yeah sure, let's trade with these awesome people again! OMFG, Is it STILL doing that?
Or that thing where:
Just as you finish off one AI civ, cleaning up the last city or two, another AI Civ, regardless of size, military capability, diplomatic history, trade agreements, will, inevitably, attack you because, heaven forbid, you might get bored having a spell of NOT fighting but instead take the opportunity to explore all the other game options the game provides? OMFG, is it STILL doing that?
Or that thing where:
You have just annihilated an assault of 20 archers with your legion of tanks and the AI civ decides the best course of action is to refuse to meet your emissary and send out a further 20 archers to have another go at the tanks? OMFG, is it STILL doing that?
Or that thing where:
The Republic form of government is the only form of government which has practical applications regardless of victory conditions and therefore is the form of government the AI is least likely to learn first? OMFG, is it STILL doing that?
The list of AI ******ations is endless and hilarious.
The list of AI ******ations solved after 20 YEARS of intensive development is unstarted and hilarious.
How much would it have cost to employ one engineer on his/her own to examine this problem over the course of 20 YEARS?
I'm sorry? That's a potentially 'wasted' investment?
Oh well, guess I'm not investing any further cash for people who don't have any concept of 'investment' then...
I won't be buying G&K until I see nobody rant about the expansion pack.
I won't be buying G&K until I see nobody rant about the expansion pack.
I won't be buying G&K until I see nobody rant about the expansion pack.
Then you won't buy it anyway . Some people in this fourm have even found a bug in G&K during the demo and there are people out there who complain about the game even before its release .